First, let us analyze what exactly this so-called Haj subsidy entails. An Indian Muslim, who chooses to go to Haj through government run Haj committees, gets a subsidy of around Rs. 20,000 on their Air India ticket of Rs. 32,000. That is it ! The minimum cost of a Haj package through the Haj committees is around Rs. 92,000, of which Rs. 20,000 is paid by the Indian government to Air India as a subsidy on the Hajis ticket. The total Haj airline ticket subsidy was around Rs. 150 crore for the year 2001 and has been enmarked to Rs. 225 crores for the year 2005. It is interesting to note that the normal ticket to Saudi Arabia costs around Rs. 25,000 but Air India charges Rs. 34,000 from the Hajis. So, effectively the government is giving a subsidy of Rs. 12,000 only !
RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:32 PM Permalink
The Sangh Parivar zealots make is sound like that the Indian government sponspors an Annual-Go-To-Haj trip for anyone who is interested. Why this is such a big issue for them? I don%u2019t think the amount involved (Rs. 225 crores) is the itching factor. They are more piqued at the fact that it allows Muslims to go to Mecca and Medina, their holy cities which are outside India, out there is some land called Arabia. The usual argument of these fanatics is that India and India alone should be the pitrabhuumi (fatherland) and punyabhuumi (holyland) of all Indians and since the holy places of Muslims and Christians are elsewhere, they can never be patriotic enough. This argument would have been plain ridiculous had it not been so malevolent. So, what they are trying to say is that a Hindu born and brought up in USA can not be patriotic enough to USA, if he chooses to visit the Somnath mandir in India as a pilgrim. A Swede, who converts to Hinduism, can not be loyal to Sweden if he scouts Mathura and Varanasi in search of spiritual salvation. The patriotism of all Sikhs who visit Nankana sahab in Pakistan is somehow suspect and all Hindus who undergo the arduous Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage can not be termed Indians anymore because that site is under Chinese dominion. Continued below.................
RE:RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:33 PM Permalink
We would let them go for the time being.Coming back to the Haj subsidy, Haj is obligatory only on those who are physically and financially capable of performing the journey. So, all the expenses should be incurred by the Hajis himself and the government should not pay any part of that. Fair enough. But is the government actually providing any financial support to the Hajis? I don%u2019t think so. The government is only subsidising their air tickets because the airlines they are travelling with belongs to the government. In other words it is a discount on an overpriced product. There are many companies that provide discounts to their regular users. What we fail to appreciate is that these
RE:RE:RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:33 PM Permalink
Hajis are providing atleast 84 crores as revenue to Air India per year, year after year for the pathetic service they receive in return. Is it merely a rumour that the worst Air India carriers are employed by Air India for the Haj travel? Last year, on its way back, one of the Air India plane broke down. It has to be grounded in Sharjah for a full night. The Hajis were told that they would have to spend the entire night in the plane. Customer service anyone? After protests from the passengers, Air India finally relented and issued boarding passes to the passengers. Which traveller in his right mind would prefer travelling with Air India with so many airlines providing world-class service at comptetitive rates, nowadays? More than 1,20,000 Indians went for Haj in the year 2001. That is a big big number and the that too within a specific time schedule. Out of these, around 50,000 chose to go with private tour operators. Why? Because there are many private tour operators that offer Haj packages for as low as Rs. 68,000, without any government subsidy (yes, the government gives subsidy only on the Air India ticket, not to the Hajis per se). What does that tells us? Let me make a guess, these tour operators are more efficient? COntinued below............
RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:34 PM Permalink
So, the goverment of India, in order to cover for their awful management of Air India, to hold on to a constant (and unquestioning) source of revenue (year, after year) want Indian Muslims to believe that it is doing a lot of favour by doling out some subsidy on an overpriced air ticket. That too for its own vote bank politics. Come on ! The consecutive governments in India have only used symbolism in the name of minority policies. Instead of focusing on the real issues, as to why Indian Muslims are at the bottom of the social rung, why the literacy rate of Muslims is the lowest, what are the reasons that Muslims fail to enrol their kids for school, what can be done to utilise the tremendous skills of business and entrepreneurship, all we are given is a pathetic subsidy on an overpriced airline ticket and that too, mainly for its own good. Symbolism sells, in India, it sells big. The fact that it also gives an issue to perennial Muslim-haters like Togadia, Singhal and Giriraj Kishore, is of no concern to it. Afterall, when these people bark, and occasionally bite, which way the terrified Muslim would turn to? Is it just a co-incidence or a well though strategy, that the BJP led government did not abolish the Haj subisidy in its 6 years of power because that would deprive its core Muslim-bashing constituency one of the favourite issues? Even Muslim leaders has been demanding for 20 years that the Indian government should do away with the so-called Haj subsidy.
RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:35 PM Permalink
More than 1,20,000 Indians go for Hajj every year. But only 6330 people have taken hajj subsidy according to rediff this year. So why the rest are not taking the hajj subsidy. The answer is simple. The minimum cost of a Haj package through the Haj committees is around Rs. 92,000, of which Rs. 20,000 is paid by the Indian government to Air India as a subsidy on the Hajis ticket. It is interesting to note that the normal ticket to Saudi Arabia costs around Rs. 25,000 but Air India charges Rs. 34,000 from the Hajis. But who want to go for hajj used to choose private tour. Because there are many private tour operators that offer Haj packages for as low as Rs. 68,000, without any government subsidy (yes, the government gives subsidy only on the Air India ticket, not to the Hajis per se).
RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:36 PM Permalink
When BJP was in power they increases the value of hajj subsidy to attract more muslim to this scheme and wanted to loot the hajji. But more of the hajjis denied it.
RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Hajj
by on Dec 11, 2007 07:37 PM Permalink
It is also a shame that the BJP (a non-secular, Hindutva party), while in power, failed to remove the Haj subsidy despite the lack of opposition to it from the Muslim community.
RE:Hajj
by Neelesh Bharath on Dec 11, 2007 07:37 PM Permalink
tell me sir why do u need subsidy on Haj,its precisely these kinds of policies that makes me doubt the real intenetions of policies of Congress, why dont they give subsidy for vaishno devi pilgrimage for hindus
RE:Hajj
by Verghese on Dec 11, 2007 08:00 PM Permalink
Mr. Vahanvati said the Government was providing facilities for the Kailash Manasarovar yatra and incurring an expense of Rs. 3,200 on each pilgrim.
